Upgrade to Windows 10 will be free for all users, even pirates, Microsoft says

Whether or not you paid for your copy of Windows 7 or 8.1, you'll be eligible for a free upgrade to Windows 10 when it releases this year.

In a move aimed at turning serial pirates into honest customers and educating users on the benefits that come with legitimate software — like easy updates and access with popular software suites like Office — Microsoft has decided not to block pirates from receiving the upgrade.

Windows 10 will be available in the coming months, and if you're already using 7 or 8 you'll get a free upgrade.

"Anyone with a qualified device can upgrade to Windows 10, including those with pirated copies of Windows," a Microsoft spokesperson told Eurogamer. "We believe customers over time will realise the value of properly licensing Windows and we will make it easy for them to move to legitimate copies."

Terry Myerson, who runs Microsoft's operating systems unit, announced the plan at a conference in Shenzhen, China, and indicated it was primarily designed to get legitimate software into that country. Recent studies show that in China three quarters of all PC software is unlicensed.

"We are upgrading all qualified PCs, genuine and non-genuine, to Windows 10," he said in a telephone interview with Reuters.

Myerson said Windows 10 would be released globally sometime "this summer" (meaning between mid-June and mid-September). This is the first time Microsoft has put a time frame on the release, although it had previously said "the second half of 2015".

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Windows 10 has been available as a beta test for enthusiasts to try out for some time and impressions have been generally positive, particularly among those who disagreed with the touch-first focus of Windows 8.